0.cached.png

By Newsweek Editors

0

Share

Newsweek is a Trust Project member

See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.

Staying Healthy

We received a favorable prognosis for men's health from readers of our June 16 cover package. A cancer survivor wrote: "It's time we took better care of ourselves than we do of our cars." Chimed another: "Older doesn't have to mean sicker." A third added that "many illnesses are the result of how we live."

The State of Men's Health

Read More on News

I was really pleased to see your June 16 cover story on men's health ("Men's Minds, Men's Bodies"). For years women have made a steadfast and passionate effort to bring forth many of the health issues that directly affect them. However, we men have been less than fervent in addressing the health issues that affect us. Our lack of momentum on these issues could be attributed to our male ego--our reluctance to show that we're as vulnerable as anyone else when it comes to illness and disease. Nonetheless, I'm happy to see that you've brought the issue to the fore.
Kevin Einbinder
Chicago, Illinois

Your otherwise fine articles give a fatalistic "social biology is destiny" interpretation of men's health-related behavior. I submit that men and women are heavily influenced by the gender-related messages they receive in childhood. If we begin to raise our sons to understand, as our daughters do, that it is OK to admit to pain (to their doctor) and to seek help (from a professional) in a crisis, and that we need not (and cannot) solve every problem ourselves, the sex difference in longevity will begin to shrink.
Eugene E. McDowell
Psychology Department
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, North Carolina

As a man approaching 30, I picked up your June 16 issue with a keen interest in my health. However, after reading it, I think a more fitting title would be "Treatments for Death." I do not consider cardiovascular disease, abdominal aortic aneurysms, prostate cancer, one-upmanship, depression or hair loss representative of my understanding of health. Throughout all your articles, you reported on men's potential health problems rather than men's healthy-living possibilities. Each article seemed calculated to persuade men to fix their ailing health.
Jack Du Mez
Troy, New York

It's true that in western culture we take for granted the idea of competition, survival of the fittest, winning/losing and domination/submission, and we believe that we can impose this on everything we do, even in our practice of yoga postures. But the cultures from which yoga developed (ancient India and China) honored the view that what happens in our bodies and in the world is not based on survival of the fittest and competition, but rather on a profound and dynamic matrix of cooperation.
Kevin Kortan
Yoga therapist and teacher
New York, New York

Your article "Prostate Cancer's Difficult Choices" should be handed to patients diagnosed with this disease. Treatment decisions are often made when men and their partners are equipped only with convoluted information, unfamiliar terminology and uncharted courses to personal survival. The knowledge and guidance provided in your article will help alleviate the fears and frustrations felt by people new to this intimidating disease. I applaud your magazine for sharing real-life stories and the reasons behind the men's choices. I implore your readers to be aggressive in their routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screenings. I believe this simple blood test may have saved my 48-year-old husband's life.
Susie Kasinski Drummond
Racine, Wisconsin

Since my prostate surgery, I've heard of many men who have never had a PSA test. I learned that men are hiding their heads in the sand just like women who refuse to have a mammogram. Today mammograms are making a significant dent in detecting early tumor growth. Had it not been for a yearly PSA test, cancer could have spread throughout my body. Lack of knowledge in these matters is not an excuse, it is ignorance--and it puts one's life at stake.
Joe Smiga
Manchester, New Hampshire

In a well-written piece on prostate-cancer treatment options, you overlooked a safe, simple and effective choice: cryoablation, or immediate cancer-cell death by lethal ice. Thousands of men have turned to cryo, a minimally invasive procedure, as an alternative to radical surgery and/or radiation for localized prostate cancer. The benefits of cryo include rapid recovery, almost no risk of permanent, severe urinary incontinence, and new techniques that better preserve sexual function. One study of seven- and eight-year-old data shows cryo to be 92 percent effective in low-risk cases, and 87 to 89 percent effective in moderate- to high-risk tumors. Men can make an informed treatment choice only when they've been informed of all options.
Karen Barrie
Director, CryocarePCA (Prostate Cancer Advocates)
Wilmette, Illinois

One issue neglected in your otherwise excellent articles about men's health is the drastic situation facing men of color, who are less healthy than any other group and more likely to suffer from chronic conditions. They have reduced access to care and are thus more severely affected by the underlying causes of disease. Regardless of insurance status, men of color are less likely to receive timely preventive services, and more likely to suffer the consequences of delayed attention, such as limb amputations and radical cancer surgery. It is time for policymakers and journalists to recognize the role of race and, for that matter, income in developing ways to improve the nation's health overall.
Barbara Krimgold
Washington, D.C.

Your June 16 issue is truly a keeper. I don't know when my subscription ends, but I'll renew it right away to be sure I don't miss any gems like this issue. As an aspiring novelist at 72, I find the topic of men's health especially poignant in regard to the male psyche. Thanks for a job well done.
Robert L. Jacober
Miami, Florida

As good as your articles on men's health are, you may not realize how differently men and women can interpret them. Just your first article, "The Biggest Prize of All," got my husband and me in a heated debate. He perceives the statement "your cholesterol is hereditary" to mean that there's nothing he can do about it, so he can eat and do whatever he likes. I, on the other hand, take it to mean that I must work harder to keep my cholesterol at a healthy level. Most men I know won't ever admit that they don't eat right or exercise enough, since that would mean having to succumb to a lifestyle change. Men have to stop being in denial.
Karen Datko
Easley, South Carolina

Any parents considering circumcision for their son should first ask themselves if they would have an equivalent procedure done to their daughter if the benefits were found to be the same or greater ("The Right Choice"). If parents cannot justify the removal of normal, healthy tissue from their daughter's genitals in the name of marginal health benefits, then how can they allow it for their son?
Robert Blissitt
Dallas, Texas

The problem with infant male circumcision is that it is an elective procedure, and elective procedures generally require the consent of the patient. Performing elective surgery on someone too young to give consent is inconsistent with the basic principles of medical ethics.
Dennis Harrison
Vancouver, Canada

We can now go to our doctor for expensive medical tests to determine our CRP, small LDL and HDL2B, and further escalate our skyrocketing health-care costs. We will then be told to stop smoking, get active, and eat more vegetables and less fat. Why don't we just do what we know will help us avoid not only heart disease but cancer and diabetes, too? If people are not taking positive health action with the information we already have, what makes us think that the results of more medical tests will change behavior and save lives? We need to make eating better and being active easier and more fun.
Carol M. Meerschaert
New Gloucester, Maine

Depression, poor physical condition and midlife crises occur because many men are duped by society into believing that their self-worth is defined by their breadwinning abilities and their standing in the economic hierarchy. This limited perspective on life is established by others who may not grant these men the status they seek. By thinking outside the box and escaping from this trap, men could enrich their minds and bodies in ways more creative than merely earning a paycheck.
Peter H. McCusker
Medford, Oregon

Where in your articles were the farmers, tradesmen, service workers, disadvantaged new immigrants and retail employees? These men, who have little status or economic power and struggle to earn a living for their families, carry the burden of pain and disease, die too soon and suffer too much--invisible to a society in which they have no political clout and are unlikely to be able to afford adequate health insurance or membership at fitness clubs. They are our sons and fathers, lovers and friends, whose stories need to be told.
Joe Zoske
Loudonville, New York

As a psychologist who has worked with cardiac patients for the past 10 years, I was surprised by your omission of one of the biggest risks for a heart attack: chronic anger. Abundant research exists that shows this is a more critical factor than smoking, family history, lack of exercise or diet. The medical field, however, is often reluctant to acknowledge the impact of attitude and behavior on disease, because it challenges the traditional medical model. But the physical reactions that take place when anger rears its ugly head are clearly documented.
Gregory H. Moore, Psy.D.
Princeton Junction, New Jersey

An Unethical Connection

It's ironic that an administration that campaigned on morals is now plagued by questions of ethics ("Cha-Ching Cheney," April 7). From allegations concerning its connections to Halliburton and the subsequent awarding of profitable contracts to it, to allowing contributors like Enron a front seat at the policymaking table, to a lack of transparency in dealing with corporate malfeasance at the Securities and Exchange Commission, there is a continuing trend of unethical behavior. When light is shed on such issues, this administration quickly attacks those who question its motives.
Ian Keough
Toronto, Canada

Judging Silvio

Your article about Italian prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the trials he is facing presents a realistic picture of the situation in my country ("Feeling the Heat," May 19). It is astonishing that Berlusconi remains so popular after all the accusations and trials against him. Judging Berlusconi shouldn't be a political issue but a legal and moral one. I appreciate the impartial way your article described "sinking" Italy, even though this opinion probably won't be shared by most of the prime minister's supporters. Maybe NEWSWEEK will now be labeled as a "communist" magazine on Berlusconi's blacklist.
Fabrizio Ferro
Savona, Italy

I'm a U.S. citizen living in Italy, and I find that Berlusconi is a true leader, a courageous man. It's sad that you attack the only honest politician in Italy, one who's not afraid to speak his mind, one who has started reforms that are inspiring and innovative. This is a country where communists and former communists still control most of the government and the justice system. Corruption has become a tool for survival. Berlusconi is the first Italian politician who has said no to corruption, and he is paying the political price for changing the way Italy has worked for the past 50 years.
Richard Gardini
Nice, France

Of Moguls and Pornographers

Did Rob Long have to frame his joke about Hollywood sex fun as a welcome break from news of the war ("Ready for the Real Scoop?" April 21)? First, call it what it was--a brutal invasion, not a war. Second, will Long's tale of kinky pornsters amuse the thousands of Iraqi moms whose kids were butchered by the U.S. military as much as it might your readers?
Dwight Peck
Bassins, Switzerland

View 0 Comments

Request Reprint & Licensing

Submit Correction

View Editorial & AI Guidelines